These were going to be Monkey socks, but I didn’t want to expend any brain energy on trying to figure out the pattern toe up (I figured out how to do it now but, meh….), nor did I want to learn how to do socks cuff down right now. I just wanted something completely fast and easy while working on my Sylvi, which is taking forever and making me feel like I’m not making progress on anything.

I’m really glad I switched. This pattern is incredibly fast and easy to memorize, and it looks great in the Crazy Zauberball yarn. I started them on Sunday morning and got through the gusset increases in a single day. I should have these puppies done by the end of the week. The toes were executed a bit better on the Monkey trial, but I’m fine with what I’ve got here.

I found I loved working with the cheerful colors and long, gradual repeats so much, I plan to do some colorwork with Kauni Effektgarn and placed a big order… so much for working with the stash I have and not buying more.

March 26th Oh. My. God. I did my first heel turn without making any mistakes on picking up the wraps or knitting the reinforced heel pattern wrong (I modified this pattern). This is a glorious day… Could this mean I really understand how to do that short-row thingy??

I had 102.9g to start (Crazy, Zauberball… giving me those extra couple of grams! Thanks!!) and after the first leg repeat I had 34.4 & 34.2, or 68.6g left. A little goes a long way with this stuff. It’s thinner in some places than in others. After measuring another repeat, it looks like it takes about 3.2g, so I will either have a lot left over or I’ll make them knee-highs… we’ll see.

March 31st Love the pattern; hate the yarn. I won’t use the Zauberball again, unless I’m looking to make something completely random. Half of the ball was almost solid, the other half had the mix of colors. I do, however, like the gradual shifts in color rather than abrupt changes that usually occur with multi-colored yarns. It has inspired me to try some Kauni colorwork, though.

Update: After only a couple of washing, the Zauberball fell apart. I hate this yarn and will never use it again!